A power semiconductor device generally requires low turn-on resistance or a low saturated voltage in order to reduce power loss in a conductive state while a large amount of current flows. Further, the power semiconductor device requires a characteristic of enduring an inverse directional high voltage at a PN conjunction thereof, which may be applied to opposite terminals of the power semiconductor device when it is turned off or when a switch is turned off, that is, to have a high breakdown voltage characteristic.
When various power semiconductor devices basically satisfying electrical and physical conditions are packaged in one module, the number of semiconductor devices included in the packaged module and electrical specifications thereof may vary depending on conditions required by a system.
Generally, a three-phase power semiconductor module is used so as to generate a Lorentz force for driving a motor. That is, the three-phase power semiconductor module controls a current and power applied to the motor, such that a driven state of the motor is determined.
Although conventional silicon insulated gate bipolar transistors (IGBTs) and silicon diodes have been included and used in such a three-phase semiconductor module, the three-phase semiconductor module has recently tended to includes silicon carbide (SiC) metal oxide semiconductor field effect transistors (MOSFETs) and silicon carbide diodes in order to minimize power consumption therein and to increase a switching speed thereof.
When the silicon IGBTs or silicon carbide MOSFETs are connected to separate diodes, a plurality of wires are required for the connection. Since parasitic capacitance and inductance occur due to the plurality of wires, the switching speed of the module may be reduced.
The above information disclosed in this Background section is only to enhance the understanding of the background of the invention, and therefore, it may contain information that does not form the prior art that is already known in this country to a person of ordinary skill in the art.